> For example, though we were provided with practice problems to prepare for our exams, we were never given solutions. My class consistently begged my professor for these, yet all he could say was that not providing them was departmental policy, and it was out of his control.
Wild.
EDIT: A response (and +1) to other comments: of course, there are many solutions to different problems on the internet.
But IMO, a big advantage of taking a class is to have shared context with a group of people, and thus interactive help (from other students, TAs, etc) working through specific problems together.
Being able to know if you were "right" seems to be an important part of this process. So having solutions to the shared problems you're all looking at seems important. (Withholding solutions seems like a method for instructors to reuse questions instead of having to write more every semester.)
Wild.
EDIT: A response (and +1) to other comments: of course, there are many solutions to different problems on the internet.
But IMO, a big advantage of taking a class is to have shared context with a group of people, and thus interactive help (from other students, TAs, etc) working through specific problems together.
Being able to know if you were "right" seems to be an important part of this process. So having solutions to the shared problems you're all looking at seems important. (Withholding solutions seems like a method for instructors to reuse questions instead of having to write more every semester.)